Zek | Gear Diary

The Future of Indie Authors and Publishing

Teleread shared some very interesting tidbits the other day about independent authors and their sales numbers. J. A. Konrath is often the voice of independent authors, as he famously broke free from his publisher and is now thriving through self-publishing and seeing his ebook sales fly through the roof. But he’s not alone. In fact, there are 25 authors listed who sold 2500+ ebooks in the month of December! Granted, these numbers are including the lucrative and extremely skewed Christmas season, but still — some of those authors sold 30k or even 100k in one month! Those are impressive sales…

News & Features

Contour GPS Adds Bluetooth to Hands-Free Video

It’s an issue as old as Xtreme Sportz. You’ve strapped a video camera to your helmet, and you’re convinced it’s absolutely killer footage. Unfortunately, you taped the camera at the wrong angle, and instead of seeing your wicked skating set everyone sees the sky. Luckily, ContourGPS has a hands-free video camera that solves this issue by turning your phone into the viewfinder via Bluetooth. I can see where this would be helpful since without some sort of screen you don’t know that your camera is aimed properly. However, may I make a suggestion? If you’re going to be using this…

Reviews

Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark Review

Last night for Sarah’s birthday we went to see “Spider-Man: The Musical”. It was supposed to have officially debuted by now, but due to some unfortunate accidents they’ve pushed back the official debut, so what we saw was still the preview. However, it was still a fantastic experience, both for Sarah (as a theater geek) and me (the comic book geek)!

Events, News & Features

Nike Introduces the Nike+ SportWatch

Garmin has been the undisputed leader of GPS running watches for several years. Timex and Polar have similar devices, but neither has captured running hearts quite like the Garmin Forerunner line. Nike has the “poor man’s Garmin” with their Nike+ system, and at CES they stepped it up with a new GPS-based Nike watch. According to Nike: Starting April 1st, get the extra push you need with the Nike+ SportWatch GPS powered by TomTom. Not only does it track what you do, it tracks how you do it, then makes you want to do it again and again. Here’s how:…

eBooks, News & Features

“We’re Not Dead Yet!” Says Borders

(image courtesy Magnificent Vista) There’s a slight, baby, teeny-tiny glimmer of hope for Borders. Apparently, they’re not quite dead yet. Late breaking news today indicated Borders is making inroads on restructuring their debt, AND they aren’t hiring bankruptcy lawyers. According to Bloomberg news: Borders Group Inc., the second- largest U.S. bookstore chain, surged in after-hours trading on a report that Jefferies & Co. is helping the company restructure its debt. The investment bank is advising the Ann Arbor, Michigan- based chain on reworking its debt load, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing people familiar with the matter. Borders doesn’t have…

Events, News & Features

AMD Makes Processors Sound Exciting!

I love corporate thrillers. One of my favorite books of all time is “Paranoia” by Joseph Finder, an awesome espionage/thriller with cool twists. However, despite being big geek words like “silicon” and “graphics chip” don’t really pique my interest. However, AMD has put together an AWESOME trailer for their newest chips, and if this doesn’t make you at least a little curious about their CES announcements, well, you’re clearly not an action fan!

eBooks, Editorials

Why Barnes and Noble Shouldn’t Buy Borders

Rich Adin has an editorial making the rounds of the ebook world today, where he argues that B&N should snap Borders up for several strategic reasons. His reasons aren’t bad, per se, but I think he underestimates much of the risks and pitfalls in his ideas, and they come from a more idealist view than a realistic business one. Let’s go through his ideas one by one and I’ll interject where I disagree: First, it can immediately close all the b&m stores that currently compete with its own brand. This would increase traffic to its own brand for those of…

eBooks

Google to Expand to Periodicals?

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is looking to sell more than just books. Apparently, they also want to sell newspapers and magazines, probably as a way to offer more content to the slew of Android tablets coming out this year! According to the WSJ: Google has discussed its intentions with a range of publishers, including Time Warner Inc.’s Time Inc. unit, Condé Nast and Hearst Corp., according to people familiar with the matter. The three publishers declined to comment on any talks. In recent weeks, these people say, Google has told publishers it would take a smaller slice…

eBooks, Editorials

State of the eBook: 2010’s Legacy and 2011’s Future

It has been far too long since the last “State of the eBook” column, but life has been busy lately. However, my New Year’s resolution is to get back on track, and it seemed like a good way to start would be with a retrospective on 2010 and a look to what we might see in 2011! State of the eBook world at the end of 2010 Winners Kindle: It’s impossible not to include the Kindle on this list. Amazon has hung onto their marketshare and expanded onto Mac OS X, Blackberries and Android devices. Not to mention their existing…

eBooks, News & Features

Welcome to the Death Spiral of Borders

It’s harsh but there’s no other way to put it. News broke this afternoon that Borders is delaying payments to vendors, and is concerned if their creditors do not help with a restructuring that they’re going to run into a “liquidity shortfall”. In other words, there’s no money in the bank to pay anyone. When you’re a person, it makes you a deadbeat. When you’re a large company, it makes you very, very nervous. According to the Wall Street Journal: The nation’s second-largest bookstore chain by revenue, behind Barnes & Noble Inc., said the delays were part of its efforts…

eBooks, News & Features

Kobo’s Big End of Year Contest!

Kobo is running what they call a “Get-a-Gift” contest. Every day, you head to the site, sign in and scratch off your virtual entry card. You can win a Kobo eReader, coupons or a gift card! If you’re as hooked on lotto scratch-offs as I am, you’ll definitely like this contest! It goes from now until New Year’s Eve, so you have all week to win something. So far I’ve won 10% off one book; give it a shot and let us know in the comments if you win anything good! Check out Kobo’s full blog post and contest rules,…

Editorials

The Downside to Cloud-Based Products

(It’s not much, but it’s an important set of records for me!) In my previous running life (a few years ago) I kept a simple composition notebook to list my runs. It was low-tech, and I mostly used it because I was tracking my weight lifting and other cross training for rugby. After I hurt my knee, became quite the sloth for a few years and returned to running I began using a log at Running Ahead. After this weekend, though, I’m starting to think that strategy needs a tweak or two. I reviewed Running Ahead and it’s companion program…

Reviews

One Week with Chrome OS: A Mini-Review

It’s been just about a week since I received my CR-48 Chrome OS netbook. In that time I’ve turned on my Toshiba netbook (running Windows 7) twice, and only used my Macbook to check my email a few times. Otherwise all my home computer use has been on Chrome, including writing posts for Gear Diary. While it is still quite early in my Chrome experience, and the OS is very, very young, I thought I’d share my likes and dislikes thus far…think of it as a mini-review…a miniview! Likes: Getting started is dead easy. Once I did the initial setup…

eBooks, News & Features

Amazon’s Kindle Sales Explode!

Trying to figure out how many Kindles Amazon has sold is like reading tea leaves. No one’s quite sure, though Amazon likes to give vague hints during their earnings calls and make boastful announcements without any actual numbers beyond “double last year!” But several financial analysts have debated and studied, and it seems like a few rumors are pointing to upwards of 8 MILLION KINDLES sold in 2010 alone! It’s not a shocker that the Kindle has had a great year. Between iOS, Android and Blackberry apps, plus the popularity of the Kindle 3 wifi and 3G, it’s been a…

News & Features

The Legal Entanglements for Superheroes, Supervillians, and Innocents

(image courtesy pajiba.com) Admit it-if you’re even the slightest bit geeky, you’ve debated the real-world issues of superheroes. How does Spider-Man justify all the time he takes off work? Does Bruce Wayne write the Batcave off as a business expense? Not to mention, where does Superman keep his cape under his Clark Kent suit? As it turns out, some truly smart geeks have taken this to the next level. “Law and the Multiverse” takes on the complex legal issues superheroes face every day (if they were real). What kind of issues? How about insurance costs? Or the thorny issue of…

eBooks, Editorials

What’s the Future of eReader and Fictionwise?

B&N bought Fictionwise/eReader almost two years ago. In that time we’ve seen the NOOK become a hit, and B&N turn eReader’s digital rights management into the default system for their own branded store. Meanwhile, Fictionwise and eReader are shambling around like zombies; still going through the motions of selling books but without any fanfare or bells and whistles. A year ago eReader and Fictionwise were still selling ebook readers, and while I thought it was an odd plan at least they were doing something! With the advent of the “agency model” for pricing, Fictionwise’s membership plan disappeared, dropping a discount…

eBooks, Editorials

Google Books Versus Independent Bookstores

Setting aside the chorus of yawns that Google’s eBookstore was met with, there was one area that generated some positive attention. Google was partnering with “indie” booksellers to power their eBookstores, so stores like Powell’s in Portland, OR didn’t need to build out their own stores or cede the market entirely to Amazon and B&N. Sounds great in theory. But it turns out the reality isn’t as rosy. The way Google books works is that partner booksellers set their own prices. But an independent bookseller doesn’t have the margin flexibility of a B&N or Amazon, so their prices are trending…

eBooks, Reviews

Barnes & Noble NOOKcolor Review

[Ed. note – If you haven’t already, please read part one of this review: First Impressions: NOOKcolor] It’s not often that I start a review with a conclusion, but it’s going to be hard to review the NOOKcolor without stating this up front: It’s an absolutely incredible reading device. I was skeptical that a color, LCD device would be a decent reading experience, and admittedly I still personally prefer eInk, but B&N did a fantastic job making reading front and center on the NOOKcolor. How did they do it, and what could be improved for next time? Read on for…

eBooks, Reviews

E FUN NEXTBOOK Next2 eBook Reader/Tablet Review

Last year it seemed like the hot new item was ebook readers. Everyone and their brother seemed to be offering one, but those projects quickly gave way to a veritable army of Android-based tablets after the iPad was released. Some of these are relatively generic tablets, but lately, we’ve seen a rash of tablet-esque devices designed around the reading experience. One of the newest (and most budget-conscious) of these devices is the E FUN NEXTBOOK tablet, a reading-oriented tablet with Borders eBookstore integration. Is it worth pursuing over a NOOKcolor or an iPad? Read on for my full review! Let’s…

News & Features

Google Lowers Android App Store Refund Period!

One of the biggest items that Android fans used to lord over iOS users was the marketplace policy regarding refunds. On iOS, if you purchased an app and wanted to “return” it for a refund, good luck, and start groveling to Apple or the developer. On Android, if you purchase but uninstall within 24 hours, you get a full refund automatically! No need for as many “lite” versions of programs and it gave you a chance to really kick the tires before you committed your cold hard cash. Well, as of last night, that window has dropped from 24 hours…

eBooks, Editorials

Is Google eBooks a Bestseller or a Bargain Bin Book?

Google eBooks are here! They’ve been rumored for months, and everyone’s been expecting great things. Are they the best thing since sliced bread, or are they just another me-too offering? Let’s look at the good and the bad, and what it might take to really make an impact in today’s ebook market. The Good: -Digital rights management: While it’s disappointing that DRM is still necessary, at least Google is using Adobe Digital Editions (ADE). This is the same quasi-universal standard supported by the Aluratek Libre, the Kobo Readers, Sony Readers, even the NOOK. In fact, the only major device that…

Articles by Zek